Creating a Training Plan
7
Creating your own training plan can be an intimidating prospect if you’ve never done it before. And the prospect of creating your own training plan based on my adaptive running system—which is still rather new to you—might be even more intimidating. But rest assured that with a modest effort you can create your own, customized adaptive running training plan that will give you better race results than any ready-made plan you might choose to rely on.
Also, bear in mind that in the adaptive running system, training plans carry only limited responsibility for developing your race-specific fitness. Equally important is the process of choosing the most appropriate workout to do day by day (whether it’s the workout in your plan, or a slightly different workout, or a totally different workout) based on your body’s response to completed training. So even if the training plan you design isn’t perfect (and no plan ever is), you can continually improve it on the fly.
The last chapter of this book presents a selection of ready-made adaptive running training plans. There’s a low-volume, a moderate-volume, and a high-volume plan for each of the four popular road-race distances. You’re welcome to choose and follow the most appropriate plan from this selection as a way to become more comfortable with the adaptive running system before graduating to creating your own training plan from scratch. To get the most out of these ready-made plans, you’ll still have to modify workouts as you go based on your body’s response to the workouts you’ve done. In doing so, you’ll develop greater decision-making confidence and self-knowledge, which will help you design a better training plan when it’s time to pursue your next peak-race performance.
You may also use the ready-made training plans in Chapter 12 as templates to guide you through the process of creating your own training plan. In the preceding chapters, I’ve given you a large number of tips and guidelines regarding how to develop your aerobic support, your neuromuscular fitness, and your specific endurance, but you have not yet seen how these three threads of training are woven together to create the fabric of a complete adaptive running training plan. The most important function of the plans in Chapter 12 is to provide this big picture. Each plan represents a standard adaptive running program that is customized only on the basis of peak-race distance and average running volume. You can use the plan that best suits you as a foundation for a more fully customized plan, which you’ll create by making modifications based on the self-assessment guidelines provided in the previous chapter and the training-plan design guidelines presented in this chapter.
Or you can go straight to designing your own fully customized adaptive running training plan from scratch. This process has eight steps. They are as follows:
Step 1: Choose a peak race and a race goal.
Step 2: Pick a start date and plan duration.
Step 3: Decide on the appropriate running volume and frequency and weekly workout structure.
Step 4: Divide your plan into introductory, fundamental, and sharpening periods.
Step 5: Plan your peak training week.
Step 6: Schedule tune-up races and recovery weeks.
Step 7: Schedule progressions for interval workouts, threshold workouts, and long runs.
Step 8: Fill in the remainder of the schedule.
Let’s now discuss each of these eight steps in detail. To make this discussion more concrete, I’ll create an actual adaptive running training plan for a hypothetical runner as we go along.
Step 1: Choose a Peak Race and a Race Goal.
When it comes to designing training plans, the starting point is the endpoint. And the endpoint is a specific race in a certain place on a definite date. You may wish to do more than one race in the near future, but you will choose one as your top-priority peak race—the race you wish to start with peak fitness and finish with the best time you can possibly achieve. Until and unless you have chosen a peak race and a race goal to aim for, you don’t even need a training plan. The whole purpose of designing a training plan is to create a sensible map of workouts leading from your current fitness state to a state of maximal race-specific fitness just in time for your peak race.
Choosing a peak race is something you can do with almost total freedom, as long as you exercise common sense, which, in my experience, most runners have. Common sense tells you not to choose a marathon taking place three weeks from now as your peak race if you’ve never run farther than 10 miles. Beyond this caution to exercise your best judgment, I am not here to tell you what your peak race should be. The purpose of choosing a peak race is to get yourself excited and to generate the motivation and focus you’ll need to take your running to the next level. Only you can decide which peak-race option gets you most excited.
In most cases, you’ll want to establish a time goal to achieve in your peak race. Running is primarily a sport of competition against oneself, and the stopwatch is the means by which we keep score in that competition. Setting ambitious but achievable time goals serves to increase one’s motivation to train hard and give one’s best effort in the race itself, and it often enhances the satisfaction of the race experience. Ultimately it matters little whether the goal is achieved. In fact, I’m fond of saying that the best goal setters achieve their race time goals only half the time. If you always achieve your race time goals, you are surely setting them too low. And if you never achieve your goals, clearly they are too ambitious.
How do you know what is an appropriate race time goal? As I mentioned in the previous chapter, if you have relevant past racing experience, then experience will guide you. Otherwise, just set a “guess goal” based on past performances at other race distances, on workout performances, or on how your fitness compares to that of training partners with experience at your peak-race distance. You’ll be able to refine this goal as the training process unfolds and your peak race draws near.
For the purpose of illustrating the eight-step process of training plan design, let’s choose a marathon peak race and a goal time of 2:39.
Step 2: Pick a Start Date and Plan Duration.
Another limitation on appropriate peak-race selection that I hinted at in the previous section is that the peak race must be far enough in the future to afford you enough time to train for optimal performance. On the other hand, it also should not be too far in the future or else you won’t feel that all-important sense of urgency that motivates you to train hard, and you’ll be at risk of peaking too early and becoming “stale” by race day. You may, however, choose a peak race that’s many months in the future and simply delay the start date of formal training for that event until an appropriate time while focusing on other, more immediate goals.
The ideal duration of a training plan depends on the distance of the peak race and on your current fitness level. For most runners, longer races require more preparation time than shorter races because it takes a while to build the endurance needed to go the distance comfortably. The higher your current fitness level is, however, the less time you need to prepare for a race of any distance. The elite runners on my team maintain such a high fitness level throughout the year that they may devote only eight to 10 weeks of formal preparation to the marathon. In essence, they always have a solid foundation of introductory and early-fundamental-period training in their legs. Thus, at most times of the year their training is focused toward simply maintaining health and well-rounded fitness and inching their fitness in the direction of specificity to their next major competition. Only relatively short time blocks need to be devoted to aggressive, specific fundamental training and sharpening.
The situation of professional runners is unique in that they typically train to peak for three to four championship races per year. Thus, they are required to sketch out a plan for the entire year and to view the process of training for each championship race only semi-independently of the process of training for the others. The situation is very different for the typical amateur competitive runner, who aims for peak fitness only once or twice per year and does not sustain a consistently high level of fitness throughout the year, due to the other life priorities that periodically take time away from training, and to the occasional injury. (Elite runners get injured, too, but they are much more likely to maintain a high level of fitness despite their breakdowns thanks to aggressive rehabilitation and cross-training efforts.) Consequently, the type of training plan that is most often appropriate for the typical competitive runner is one that assumes a modest level of starting fitness and is strictly focused on a single peak race.
This is not to say that amateur competitive runners cannot design and follow yearlong, multi-peak training plans as most elite runners do. In fact, as an amateur competitive runner you stand to benefit no less than elite runners do from maintaining a consistently high level of fitness year-round and taking advantage of this fitness by peaking three or four times a year. Nevertheless, this approach just isn’t realistic for most amateur competitive runners.
So, how long should your training plan be if you’re in the typical situation of starting a training cycle at a level of fitness that is well below your desired peak fitness level? Simply put: Long enough to develop your fitness from its current level to the desired peak level at a rate that is neither hurried nor dawdling. In most cases, the optimal duration falls within the ranges presented in the following table.
|
Peak-Race Distance |
Optimal Training-Plan Duration |
|
5K |
12–16 weeks |
|
10K |
14–18 weeks |
|
Half-Marathon |
16–20 weeks |
|
Marathon |
18–24 weeks |
The higher your current fitness level is, the shorter your plan may be within the optimal range. The durations of the ready-made training plans presented in chapter 12 are 12 weeks for 5K, 14 weeks for 10K, 16 weeks for the half-marathon, and 20 weeks for the marathon. We will design a 20-week marathon training plan for the purpose of illustrating the training-plan design process.
Step 3: Decide on the Appropriate Running Volume and Frequency and Weekly Workout Structure.
Weekly running mileage is the most important variable that distinguishes individual training plans for the same peak-race distance. The best marathon training plan for one runner might have a peak volume of 40 miles in a week, while for another runner the peak running volume might be 120 miles in a week. If the runner for whom the 40-miles-per-week plan was most appropriate attempted to follow the 120-miles-per-week plan, she would quickly get injured. On the other hand, if the runner for whom the 120-miles-per-week plan was most appropriate followed the 40-miles-per-week plan, he would arrive at race day far short of peak fitness and fail to achieve his race goal.
To choose an appropriate peak weekly mileage target, consider your recent past training volume, how many times per week you plan to run, and the approximate distance you plan to run in your longest run. I recommend that every runner, including beginners, run at least six times per week, if possible. You need to exercise daily just for the sake of your health, and since you’re a runner you might as well run every day. At the peak level of training, the typical weekday run should be at least four miles long. The peak length of the Sunday long run should be at least five miles for beginning 5K runners and 20 miles for beginning marathon runners. These parameters establish 25 miles as the lowest recommended peak weekly running volume level for beginning and very low-key competitive runners training for a 5K, and 40 miles for beginning and very low-key competitive runners training for a marathon.
The absolute bare minimum running frequency for progress as a runner is three times per week. If, for whatever reason, you choose to run only three to five times each week, I still recommend that you work out at least six times per week, doing some form of cross-training on your non-running days. If you’ve never run daily before, or have not done so in a while, you should not start doing so abruptly. The tissues of your lower extremities will need more than 24 hours to repair themselves and grow stronger between runs. Start with three or four short runs per week and do non-impact cross-training workouts on non-running days. After a few weeks, substitute a cross-training workout with a run and continue in this fashion until you’re running six times per week.
Seventy miles is the maximum number of weekly miles you should attempt to pack into a training week that does not include more than one run per day on any day. If you’re an experienced and highly competitive runner who is serious about achieving maximal performance but unwilling or unable to run twice on some days, then you should aim for a peak running volume of close to 70 miles per week, regardless of your peak-race distance.
For most experienced runners, running volume is limited by a lack of willingness to run more than a certain amount, given other life priorities, and not by an inability to run more. I cannot object to this choice. However, as a coach I am all too aware that the more you run, within your personal limits (which increase with training experience), the better you will perform. So my advice is that you gradually increase your running volume from one training cycle to the next until you reach the highest level you are comfortable with (in relation to a particular peak-race distance), and then hold it at that level. Avoid increasing your peak weekly running mileage by more than 50 percent compared to your most recently completed training cycle.
In chapter 3, I presented a table of weekly running mileage guidelines for five different categories of runner and for each of the four popular road-race distances. Use this table, the 50 percent rule, and the other guidelines given in this section to settle on an appropriate peak weekly running mileage for your next training plan. Like everything about adaptive running, this decision is subject to revision. You can scale your training volume up or back based on how your body responds to the workouts that you plan. Also, after completing the plan you can assess your general response to the volume level of the plan and use this assessment to settle on the best volume level for your next plan. For example, if you feel that the volume level was close to the maximal amount you could handle, but that your maximum increased slightly as an effect of experiencing the training process, you might choose to add 10 percent more running volume to your next plan.
To return to our illustration, let’s suppose that our 20-week marathon training plan is being designed for a very competitive runner who has run as much as 60 miles a week and wants to improve on the race results he achieved through this level of training, but is unwilling to run more than once a day. Therefore we will set his maximal weekly running volume at 70 miles.
The final task to perform before you begin to schedule actual workouts is to establish a standard weekly workout schedule. Settling on a running frequency is a part of this task but not the whole of it—the other part is deciding which types of runs you wish to do on each day of the typical week. In my adaptive running system, it is standard to perform steep hill sprints (preceded by an easy run) on Monday, high-intensity runs (threshold runs, interval workouts) on Tuesday and Friday, and a long run on Sunday. I have found that this distribution of workouts provides the optimal balance of stress and recovery for the vast majority of runners. Thus, I recommend that you follow this template unless you have a compelling reason not to. If you do use this template, all you have to do is fill out the typical training week with the appropriate number of additional easy and moderate workouts. Following are suggested templates for 5, 6, 7, 10, and 12 runs per week.
5 Runs per Week (appropriate for 20–50 miles per week) |
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
Long Run |
Easy Run + Hill Sprints |
Hard Run |
Easy/Moderate Run |
Off or X-Train |
Hard Run |
Off or X-Train |
6 Runs per Week (appropriate for 30–60 miles per week) |
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
Long Run |
Easy Run + Hill Sprints |
Hard Run |
Moderate Run |
Easy Run |
Hard Run |
Off or X-Train |
7 Runs per Week (appropriate for 45–70 miles per week) |
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
Long Run |
Easy Run + Hill Sprints |
Hard Run |
Moderate Run |
Easy Run |
Hard Run |
Easy Run |
10 Runs per Week (appropriate for 60–100 miles per week) |
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
Long Run |
AM: Easy Run + Hill Sprints PM: Easy Run |
Hard Run |
AM: Moderate Run PM: Easy Run |
Easy Run |
Hard Run |
AM: Easy Run PM: Easy Run |
12 Runs per Week (appropriate for 80–120 miles per week) |
|
Sunday |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Saturday |
|
Long Run |
AM: Easy Run + Hill Sprints PM: Easy Run |
Hard Run |
AM: Moderate Run PM: Easy Run |
AM: Easy Run PM: Easy Run |
AM: Hard Run PM: Easy Run |
AM: Easy Run PM: Easy Run |
Not every week in your training plan will be typical. In the first few weeks of training, you may need to ramp up to the running frequency that you will then sustain through the remainder of the training cycle. In planned recovery weeks, which should occur once every three or four weeks, you may do one or two runs fewer than you do in your typical week. And, of course, you will cancel, change, and shuffle workouts as necessary as you progress through the training plan.
Our hypothetical marathon runner will follow the seven-runs-per-week schedule presented above, except in the initial weeks of training and scheduled recovery weeks, when he will run six times a week.
Step 4: Divide Your Plan into Introductory, Fundamental, and Sharpening Periods.
Training phases, or periods, as I call them, are not as sharply delineated in my adaptive running system as they are in other training systems, but I do not forego their use entirely. There is a natural sequence of short-term training priorities that punctuate the process of developing peak fitness, so it’s natural to divide the training cycle into three relatively distinct periods, each focused on one of these priorities.
The first priority is developing an initial foundation of aerobic fitness and neuromuscular fitness that enables you to perform the more challenging training of the later periods effectively and without getting injured. The introductory period focuses on this priority. The second training priority is to build ever more race-specific fitness atop the twin foundation of basic aerobic fitness and neuromuscular fitness established in the introductory period. The fundamental period focuses on this second priority. The third and final training priority is to achieve peak-level race-specific fitness with a handful of very challenging race-specific workouts and rest up for your peak race. The sharpening period focuses on this last training priority.
Before you make any other decisions about your training plan, decide how much and how often you will run. © Alison Wade
The absolute and relative duration of each training period should be based on your starting fitness level, the distance of your peak race, and the total duration of your training plan. The higher your initial fitness level, the shorter your peak race, and the shorter your training plan, the shorter the introductory period may be. A mere two weeks of introductory training may suffice for an already fit runner starting a 12-week program culminating in a 5K peak race. If your starting fitness level is well below your peak fitness level, your introductory period should be longer—up to six weeks. Runners training for longer races are most likely to start at an initial fitness level that is far below their desired peak level, so the optimal introductory-period duration is almost always in the four-to-six-week range when the peak race is a half-marathon or a marathon.
The sharpening period should be four weeks long in almost every training plan. Two to three of these four weeks are devoted to putting the final edge on your race-specific fitness; the final one to two weeks comprise a tapering period. No runner requires or can handle more than a few weeks of true peak-level training, and no runner requires more than two weeks of reduced-volume training to rest up for a peak race.
The fundamental period is usually the longest training period because it must achieve the most movement in a runner’s fitness. I recommend that you devote at least six weeks to fundamental training when preparing for a 5K or 10K peak race, and at least eight weeks when training for a half-marathon or marathon. In the training plans presented in chapter 12, the training-period breakdowns are loosely as follows:
Duration of Phase (in Weeks) |
|
Peak Race |
Introductory |
Fundamental |
Sharpening |
|
5K |
3 |
6 |
3 |
|
10K |
4 |
6 |
4 |
|
Half-Marathon |
6 |
6 |
4 |
|
Marathon |
6 |
10 |
4 |
Our hypothetical marathon runner will use the same period breakdown as the marathon training plans in chapter 12. He is starting from a modest level of fitness. His training has been consistent, but lacking in challenging workouts and far below the volume level he will need to reach in the late fundamental period to achieve his race goal. Therefore a 20-week plan including a longer, six-week introductory period is appropriate.
Step 5: Plan Your Peak Training Week.
When you make a long car trip, you need to know the address of your final destination before you can decide whether you should turn left or right at the end of your driveway. Likewise, when you are designing a training plan, you need to plan your peak week of training—the hardest week of training that immediately precedes your pre-race taper—before you can schedule appropriate training for the first week of the plan, the second week, and so forth. Your peak week can be either the week before your race week or two weeks before your race week. And by “peak week” I mean the week with your hardest race-specific workouts, not necessarily your highest mileage week.
Your peak week of training should feature three highly race-specific workouts: a set of specific-endurance intervals or a race-specific threshold workout on Tuesday, a race-specific threshold workout or a set of specific-endurance intervals on Friday, and some type of race-specific aerobic-support workout—a longer threshold workout or a faster long run—on Sunday. Schedule the usual easy run plus short hill sprints on Monday. The rest of the week is filler: easy and moderate runs whose number and duration fit the frequency and volume parameters you have set for your training plan.
The specific format for the three key workouts in your peak week of training will be determined by the distance of your peak race, your race goal, your volume level (the higher your overall training volume, the longer your peak workouts can be), and the guidelines for aerobic training, muscle training, and specific-endurance training presented in chapters 3 through 5.
Don’t worry about planning the perfect workouts for the peak training week. As long as they closely simulate the challenges you will face in your peak race in slightly different ways, your peak workouts will do their job. In any case, like all other workouts, these workouts are planned in pencil. You may and probably will revise them at the 11th hour based on the state of your body entering your peak training week.
Following are examples of peak training weeks for runners training for four different race distances at four different mileage levels. All distances have been rounded to the nearest mile. The last example applies to our hypothetical 70-miles-per-week marathon runner for whom we are designing a complete, 20-week training plan.
5K Peak Training Week—30 Miles |
|
Sunday |
6 miles moderate |
|
Monday |
2 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. steep hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
5 miles easy |
|
Thursday |
Off |
|
Friday |
1-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
5 miles easy |
10K Peak Training Week—80 Miles |
|
Workout 1 |
Workout 2 | |
|
Sunday |
2-mile warm-up |
5 miles easy |
|
Monday |
5 miles easy + 10 × 10-sec. steep hill sprint |
5 miles easy |
|
Tuesday |
2-mile warm-up |
5 miles easy |
|
Wednesday |
5 miles easy + 2-mile moderate progression |
5 miles easy |
|
Thursday |
5 miles easy | |
|
Friday |
1-mile warm-up |
5 miles easy |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy + 2-mile hard progression |
Half-Marathon Peak Training Week—45 Miles |
|
Sunday |
12 miles moderate |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 8 × 10-sec. steep hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 2-mile hard progression |
|
Thursday |
Off |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
7 miles easy |
Marathon Peak Training Week—70 Miles |
|
Sunday |
10 miles moderate |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 10 × 10-sec. steep hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
8 miles easy + 2-mile hard progression (5:30/mile) |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy |
|
Friday |
1-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
7 miles easy |
Step 6: Schedule Tune-up Races and Recovery Weeks.
After planning your peak training week, you’ll want to incorporate two non-workout elements into your training plan before you plot out the majority of your workouts. Those two elements are tune-up races and recovery weeks. It’s sensible to tackle them at the same time, because tune-up races should be surrounded on both sides by at least two days of easy training whenever possible, so that you’re sufficiently rested to perform well in them.
A recovery week is a week of training in which the workload is moderately reduced from the level of preceding weeks. The overall structure of the weekly training cycle remains essentially unchanged. Recovery weeks generally feature the same number, sequence, and types of workouts as normal training weeks, but workouts are shortened to achieve a 20-to 30-percent reduction in mileage. Recovery weeks give the body an opportunity to fully adapt to recent training and to prepare for a more challenging level of training in subsequent weeks. Competitive runners who typically maintain a workload that’s close to the limit of what their bodies can handle require a recovery week every third week throughout the training cycle. Runners who maintain a more easily managed workload relative to their personal limits may only need a recovery week every fourth week. Low-key, low-volume competitive runners typically don’t need to schedule recovery weeks at all. Instead, they can just take a day off or replace a hard run with an easy run as necessary.
If you consider the planned average training workload of your training plan to be very near your limit, then schedule a 20-to 30-percent mileage reduction every third week throughout the training plan as a baseline. If your planned average training workload is more moderate but still high enough that you anticipate needing the occasional recovery week, then schedule a 20-to 30-percent mileage reduction every fourth week throughout the training plan.
I encourage every runner to do at least one tune-up race preceding his or her peak race. Tune-up races have several benefits. First of all, they serve as key workouts that stimulate fitness gains exceeding those you get from any regular workout. Tune-up races also provide opportunities to achieve goals at race distances other than that of your primary peak race. It’s not at all uncommon for a runner to set a 5K PR while training for a 10K peak race, for example, or to set a half-marathon PR several weeks before running a marathon. Finally, tune-up races provide the best evidence of your current fitness level.
If you’re starting at a modest level of fitness, try to get at least eight solid weeks of training into your legs before toeing the line in a tune-up race. Avoid racing too often, as well. If you’re racing on two weekends of every month, you’re missing two Sunday long runs every month and are probably too sore and fatigued to train effectively on two Mondays and Tuesdays of every month. Shorter races take the least out of you, so if you like to race often, do mostly 5K’s. Also, the shorter your peak race is, the more racing you can get away with, as 5K and 10K tune-up races provide specific training for 5K and 10K peak races. But if your peak race is a marathon, you’ll get more benefit from a Sunday long run than from a 5K or 10K tune-up race, except on special occasions.
As a general rule, tune-up races should be shorter or no longer than your peak race. One exception is that a 10K is an acceptable tune-up race for a 5K peak race. You can get away with racing a half-marathon as a tune-up for a peak 10K, but you’ll most likely get more out of another 10K.
A second general rule to follow in planning tune-up races is to do shorter tune-up races before longer ones. Eight weeks into a marathon training program, you’ll most likely not be in good enough shape to run a decent half-marathon, but you might run a very strong 10K. It’s best to save the half-marathon until roughly four weeks before your marathon.
Don’t go out of your way to pick tune-up races that just happen to fall at the end of the recovery weeks you’ve scheduled for every third or fourth week throughout your training plan. Just schedule the tune-up races that make sense and adjust your recovery-week schedule as necessary. For example, suppose you normally take a recovery week every third week and you schedule a particular tune-up race that falls on the second Sunday after the preceding recovery week. In this case, it would make sense to train normally through Wednesday of that tune-up race week. Move Friday’s key workout to Thursday and possibly scale it back a bit. Then run easy on Friday and run easy again or rest on Saturday. The following week, swap Tuesday’s hard run with Wednesday’s easy run so you have two solid recovery days after the tune-up race as well.
The following table shows a sensible schedule of tune-up races for training plans matching the durations of those presented in chapter 12. Our hypothetical marathon runner will follow the marathon tune-up race schedule shown here.
|
Peak Race: |
5K |
10K |
Half-Marathon |
Marathon |
|
Plan Duration: |
12 weeks |
14 weeks |
16 weeks |
20 weeks |
|
Tune-Up Races: |
5K, Week 9 |
5K, Week 8 |
5K, Week 8 |
5K, Week 8 |
Step 7: Schedule Progressions for Interval Workouts, Threshold Workouts, and Long Runs.
The three “key workouts” that you do each week throughout an adaptive running training cycle—typically, but not always, an interval workout, a threshold run, and a long run—are the skeleton of your training plan. They provide the structure that your fitness development hangs on. Your other workouts merely “flesh out” the plan, so to speak.
In a standard adaptive running training schedule, your key workouts will fall on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday. Your Tuesday and Friday workouts will focus on developing specific endurance from a foundation of aerobic support and neuromuscular fitness, primarily through intervals and threshold training, while your Sunday workout will usually be some type of long run. In chapters 3 through 5, I provided guidelines that you can use to plan standard key-workout progressions that are appropriate for each of the four popular road-race distances. The ready-made training plans in chapter 12 provide examples of standard key-workout progressions that are appropriate to different training volumes at each of those four distances. Chapter 6 provided guidelines that you can use to customize your key-workout progressions in ways that deviate from the standard, as necessary.
Use all of this information to create key-workout progressions for your entire training plan. To the degree that you feel unsure about how to proceed, stick close to the key-workout progressions in the ready-made training plan in chapter 12 that is most appropriate to the plan you’re designing for yourself. But again, it’s not important that each key workout be perfect in itself. As long as your three weekly key workouts evolve generally in the direction of those you’ll do in your peak training week, you’ll do fine. And again, you can always modify individual key workouts as necessary as the plan unfolds.
The following table presents a complete 20-week progression of key workouts for our illustrative marathon runner.
|
Week |
Sunday |
Tuesday |
Friday |
Introductory Period |
|
1 |
8-mile easy run |
6-mile easy run |
6-mile easy run |
|
2 |
10-mile easy run |
6-mile easy run with 6 × 30-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
5-mile easy run + 10-min. progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
3 |
12-mile easy run |
6-mile easy run with 8 × 30-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
6-mile easy run + 10-min. progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
4 |
8-mile easy run + 1.5 miles uphill @ goal marathon pace |
7-mile easy run with 8 × 40-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
5-mile easy run + 1.5-mile progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
5 |
9-mile easy run + 2 miles uphill @ goal marathon pace |
7-mile easy run with 10 × 45-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
5-mile easy run + 3-mile progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
6 |
9-mile easy run |
6-mile easy run with 6 × 30-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
5-mile easy run + 1.5-mile progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
Fundamental Period |
|
7 |
12 miles easy + 15 min. @ goal marathon pace |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
8 |
5K tune-up race |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
9 |
10 miles easy + 3 min. @ goal marathon pace |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
10 |
14 miles easy + 2 miles @ goal marathon pace |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
11 |
3 miles easy + 3 miles @ goal marathon pace |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
12 |
10K tune-up race |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
13 |
14 miles easy + 2.5 miles @ goal marathon pace |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
14 |
5 miles easy + 5 × (1 mile @ marathon pace-15 sec. per mile, 1 mile @ marathon pace + 1 min. per mile) |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
15 |
13 miles easy + 1.5 miles @ goal marathon pace |
5 × 1 mile @ 10K pace |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
16 |
Half-marathon tune-up race |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Sharpening Period |
|
17 |
6 miles easy + 4 × (2 miles @ marathon pace-5 sec. per mile, 1 mile @ marathon pace + 30 sec. per mile) |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
18 |
10 miles moderate |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
19 |
17 miles easy |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1-mile warm-up |
|
20 |
12 miles easy + 3 miles @ goal marathon pace |
1.5-mile warm-up |
1-mile warm-up |
Step 8: Fill in the Remainder of the Schedule.
The final step of the training-plan design process is to fill in the remainder of your training schedule with easy runs, moderate runs, steep hill sprints, strides, and drills. The volume of “filler” running should increase sensibly in the introductory period, starting at a level you can comfortably manage and building at a manageable rate toward the level you will sustain fairly consistently throughout the fundamental period.
In a standard adaptive running plan, steep hill sprints are introduced very cautiously (just one sprint per session) twice per week in week 2. Add one to two sprints per session per week until you reach the maximal level you’re comfortable with and then cut back to one session per week. Replace the eliminated hill-sprint session with strides. Also, do strides and drills as part of your warm-up prior to any workout involving efforts at 10K pace or faster.
As you execute your training plan, just run the distance that feels right whenever an easy run is scheduled. The purpose of plotting specific distance numbers for easy and moderate runs in your training plan is not to lock yourself into running exactly the scheduled number of miles in each of them but rather to control your total weekly running volume appropriately.
Here is the complete, filled-in 20-week marathon-training plan for our invented runner.
20-Week Marathon Training Plan
Average Run Frequency: 7 days
Peak Volume: 70 miles/week
Introductory Period
|
Week 1 |
|
Sunday |
8 miles easy |
|
Monday |
Off |
|
Tuesday |
6 miles easy |
|
Wednesday |
5 miles easy |
|
Thursday |
5 miles easy |
|
Friday |
6 miles easy |
|
Saturday |
5 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 35 |
|
Week 2 |
|
Sunday |
10 miles easy |
|
Monday |
4 miles easy + 1 × 8-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
6 miles easy w/6 × 30-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
|
Wednesday |
5 miles easy + 1-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
4 miles easy + 1 × 8-sec. hill sprint |
|
Friday |
5 miles easy + 10-min. progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
Saturday |
6 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 42 |
|
Week 3 |
|
Sunday |
12 miles easy |
|
Monday |
5 miles easy + 2 × 8-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
6 miles easy w/8 × 30-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
|
Wednesday |
5 miles easy + 1-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
5 miles easy + 2 × 8-sec. hill sprint |
|
Friday |
6 miles easy + 10-min. progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
Saturday |
6 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 48 |
|
Week 4 |
|
Sunday |
8 miles easy + 1.5 miles uphill @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 4 × 8-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
7 miles easy w/8 × 40-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
|
Wednesday |
7 miles easy + 1-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
5 miles easy + 4 × 8-sec. hill sprint |
|
Friday |
6 miles easy + 1.5-mile progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
Saturday |
6 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 49 |
|
Week 5 |
|
Sunday |
9 miles easy + 2 miles uphill @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 5 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
7 miles easy w/10 × 45-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
|
Wednesday |
7 miles easy + 1-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
5 miles easy + 5 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Friday |
5 miles easy + 3-mile progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 53 |
|
Week 6 (Recovery Week) |
|
Sunday |
9 miles easy |
|
Monday |
Off |
|
Tuesday |
6 miles easy w/6 × 30-sec. fartlek intervals @ 10K–3K pace |
|
Wednesday |
7 miles easy + 1-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy + 4 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Friday |
6 miles easy + 1.5-mile progression @ half-marathon pace (uphill, if possible) |
|
Saturday |
6 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 43 |
Fundamental Period
|
Week 7 |
|
Sunday |
12 miles easy + 2 miles @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 2-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 57 |
|
Week 8 |
|
Sunday |
5K tune-up race |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
7 miles easy + 2-mile moderate progression |
|
Wednesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 52 |
|
Week 9 (Recovery Week) |
|
Sunday |
10 miles easy + 3 min. @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
Off |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
6 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 42 |
|
Week 10 |
|
Sunday |
14 miles easy + 2 miles @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 2-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
10 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 63 |
|
Week 11 |
|
Sunday |
13 miles easy + 3 miles @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 2-mile hard progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
10 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 65 |
|
Week 12 (Recovery Week) |
|
Sunday |
2-mile warm-up |
|
Monday |
Off |
|
Tuesday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Wednesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 44 |
|
Week 13 |
|
Sunday |
14 miles easy + 2.5 miles @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 2-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 66 |
|
Week 14 |
|
Sunday |
5 miles easy + 5 ×(1 mile @ marathon pace-15 sec. per mile, 1 mile @ marathon pace + 1 min. per mile) |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 2-mile hard progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
10 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 66 |
|
Week 15 (Recovery Week) |
|
Sunday |
13 miles easy +1.5 miles @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy +6 ×10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy +2-mile hard progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 59 |
|
Week 16 |
|
Sunday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy +6 ×10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
6 miles easy +2-mile hard progression |
|
Wednesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
11 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 68 |
Sharpening Period
|
Week 17 |
|
Sunday |
8 miles easy + 4 ×(2 miles @ marathon pace-5 sec. per mile, 1 mile @ marathon pace + 30 sec. per mile) |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 2-mile hard progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
7 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 71 |
|
Week 18 |
|
Sunday |
10 miles moderate |
|
Monday |
6 miles easy + 6 × 10-sec. hill sprint |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
6 miles easy + 3-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
6 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
8 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 71 |
Week 19 (Taper Week) |
|
Sunday |
17 miles easy |
|
Monday |
Off |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
5 miles easy + 1-mile moderate progression |
|
Thursday |
4 miles easy +drills and strides |
|
Friday |
1-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
4 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 50 |
|
Week 20 (Taper Week) |
|
Sunday |
12 miles easy + 3 miles @ goal marathon pace |
|
Monday |
Off |
|
Tuesday |
1.5-mile warm-up |
|
Wednesday |
4 miles easy + 1-mile hard progression |
|
Thursday |
4 miles easy |
|
Friday |
1-mile warm-up |
|
Saturday |
2 miles easy |
|
Total miles: 37 | |
|
Sunday |
Marathon goal race in 2:39 |
James Carney © Alison Wade
Runner Profile: James Carney
My work with James Carney exemplifies how adjusting your training for a better custom fit can lead to rapid improvement in racing, even if you’re already an experienced and highly trained runner. James was indeed experienced and highly trained when he joined my team in the winter of 2007. He was 26 years old with four years of experience on an elite running team coached by Bob Sevene in California and four years of college running experience before that. His personal best times of 13:47 for 5,000 meters and 28:27 for 10,000 meters were slower than those of the other male runners on my team, but I felt he had the potential to improve substantially.
I had no idea just how quickly he would improve, however. James responded extremely well to the new training approach he experienced with me. His past training was more conventional in certain ways, with long blocks of training that focused on just one or two types of training, and especially long blocks of mostly moderate-intensity aerobic work. My adaptive running system emphasizes diverse and varied workouts throughout the training process, and that’s exactly what James got when he moved to Boulder. I introduced challenging threshold work into his regimen at the very beginning, as well as steep hill sprints, which he had never done before. In addition, I increased the amount of specific-endurance training in his program while slightly reducing his volume of aerobic work, because he had already developed a strong aerobic system.
James’s first race as part of my team was the 2007 USA National Cross-Country Championships, held only nine weeks after I gave him his first adaptive running workout. He had a breakthrough performance, finishing seventh, qualifying for the World Championships, and defeating several big-name runners he had never even come close to beating before. Two months later, James achieved an even greater breakthrough, lowering his 10,000-meter personal best to 27:43 and establishing himself among the first rank of American runners.
Few experiences have done more to boost my confidence that I am a pretty good coach than my first few months of working with James Carney.